playgroup - dj kicks

playgroup - dj kicks

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1. maurice fulton presents boof - we

2. ana rago - you're god (I: cube remix)

3. material - ciquri (discomix)

4. harlequin 4's - set it off

5. impedance - tainted love

6. random factor - broken mirror

7. cultural vibe - ma boom bey (love chant version)

8. metro area - caught up 

9. tiny trendies - the sky is not crying

10. smith n hack - to our disco friends

11. zongamin - tunnel music

12. charles schillings - no communication, no love

13. nigo - march of general (chicken lips conquest dub)

14. j-walk - buggin' becky (tim 'love' lee fully bearded mix)

15. kc flightt - let's get jazzy (dope dub mix)

16. Human League - Do or die (dub)

17. the parallax corporation - anti-social tendencies

18. playgroup - behind the wheel (dj kicks electroca$h radio mix)

19. ralphi rosario - get up, get out

20. bobby o - still hott 4 U

21. dexter - i don't care

22. wanda dee - gonna make you sweat (acapella)

23. the rapture - house of jealous lovers

24. the flying lizards - money b

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this is one of my favorite mixes ever. it first taught me what weird dance music could be. Trevor Jackson, the legendary UK DJ, put it out under his Playgroup moniker in 2002, right during the revival of 80's electro. It sounds like it would appeal to tastes at the time but it's way too singular and inspired to have its energies completely dissolve in the tides of cultural flux.  

it's one of those favorite-ever things that you can actually forget about for a long time. I remembered it because bret and I went to broadway east the other day to see lovefingers dj, and he played "mah boom bey" by cultural vibe and I kicked myself for a day or two trying to remember where I'd heard it, and then it hit me, back on this playgroup mix on which I know every single note by heart. spare, weird, captivating, it's full of sweet tunes you've never heard of but sound instantly good. like the harvey 'moonshadow' mixes that are some balearic deepness before most people got around to it, jackson's dj kicks is weirdo disco before such dancefloor oddness became jams du jour. a top-shelf eye opener that can take you down the rabbithole of occult electro-disco mysteries. let's hope you don't come back.